Undergraduate nursing education programs can play an integral role in developing the next generation of nurses by incorporating more oncology content to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of patients diagnosed with cancer. While oncology nursing is a specialized area of practice, student nurses and new graduates will come in contact with patients who have been diagnosed with cancer whether they work on a specialized unit or not. Increasing the amount of oncology content provided in undergraduate nursing programs can help to encourage interest in this specialty area and improve the ability of new graduates to care for this patient population.As the landscape of cancer care in Canada evolves, oncology nursing roles are developed to enhance the patient experience and address the changing needs of patients and families. Cancer Patient Navigation (CPN), an oncology nursing role focusing primarily on person-centred care coordination and system navigation, has become integral to providing high-quality cancer care in many Canadian jurisdictions. Since 2016, a national group of oncology nursing leaders have been engaged in convening and catalyzing our understanding of the role of patient navigation in the Canadian cancer context with the purpose of developing a national position statement on CPN. In this paper, we provide a historical analysis of the development of the forthcoming Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology (CANO) position statement on CPN. We present an analysis of participant feedback from workshops at the 2016, 2017, and 2018 conferences, and meeting minutes from the National working group over this same time period. This paper serves as a concise historical summary of the evolution of CPN in Canada while providing a template for other groups looking to develop a consensus-based position statement.A quality improvement project was conducted to determine the quality of telephone nursing for patients with cancer symptoms. Eligible patients were ones who telephoned the nurse about cancer symptom(s) within four weeks prior to an emergency department (ED) visit not requiring hospital admission. Experienced oncology nurses extracting data indicated appropriateness of ED visits and opportunities for improvement. The Symptom Management Analysis Tool was used to analyze nurse documentation. For 77 patients, 87% ED visits occurred within four days of calls about symptoms (e.g., pain, breathlessness, constipation, diarrhea, nausea/vomiting) and 91% could have been managed by more complete telephone assessment and/or an urgent clinic visit. Quality of nurse documentation revealed few patients were assessed adequately (38%), received any symptom-specific medication review (49%), or were guided in self-care strategies (17%). There was low-quality telephone symptom management by nurses and a need for alternative options for patients requiring urgent face-to-face assessments. Our findings highlight a gap in use of guidelines for informing telephone symptom management.Growing evidence indicates that the nurse navigator-pivot (NN), is key to optimizing care processes and outcomes. However, large scale studies are needed to examine how patients exposed to NNs (as opposed to non-NN) differentially perceived their cancer care experiences.
Participants (N = 2,858) treated for cancer in the last six months at university-affiliated cancer centres in Montréal, Québec, completed the Ambulatory Oncology Patient Satisfaction Survey (AOPSS).
Cancer care experiences and satisfaction were significantly higher in the NN group (n = 2,003) for all six care domains (Ds from 3.32 to 8.95) and all four nursing functions (Ds from 5.64 to 10.39) when compared to the non-NN group (n = 855).
The NN role is significantly related to enhanced cancer care experiences and higher patient satisfaction. Future research should explore potential causal effects between NNs and care processes, as well as patient outcomes.
The NN role is significantly related to enhanced cancer care experiences and higher patient satisfaction. Future research should explore potential causal effects between NNs and care processes, as well as patient outcomes.While the role of the specialized oncology nurse in treatment and symptom management is well established, the role in the outpatient setting is not as well defined. Increasing patient complexity, the rising incidence of cancer, and evolving treatment regimens is pressing BC Cancer to reassess its Ambulatory Care Unit (ACU) model of care to better meet patient needs. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/OSI-906.html The purpose of this project was to identify and map the specific role and functional tasks of nurses working in the ACU to specialty competencies for the oncology nurse. A baseline functional role elements list and role-competency map were developed from clinical observations and focus group sessions. This work will help provide role clarity and enable nursing to articulate both the scope of practice and the specialty competencies required to best meet the needs of our patients in the ACU setting. The results of this project can be utilized in strategic and operational planning discussions focused on improving health services for patients and supporting the continued professional development of front-line staff. The approaches utilized may be of interest to others who wish to apply similar methods in their own cancer settings.Patient distress is frequently missed in everyday cancer care, yet can be associated with decreased quality of life and satisfaction with care, as well as increased risk for comorbidity and morbidity. Considered as an aspect of a patient-centred approach, screening for distress is now an international standard of practice and constitutes an accreditation criterion for cancer centers in the USA and Canada. Inspired by existing health partnership models, the Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal's (CHUM) Integrative Cancer Care Center recruited patients to act as partners during the creation and implementation of its screening for distress program. Patient partner roles in the program included becoming a member of a specialized psychosocial oncology team, contributing to a healthcare professional training program and helping to select tools to detect distress. This paper describes why and how the CHUM cancer care centre developed an innovative screening for distress program, using a patient partnership approach, to better meet the needs of patients with cancer.